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The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington. As a state militia unit, the Western Air Defense Sector is not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. It is under the jurisdiction of the Washington Air National Guard unless it is federalized by order of the President of the United States. It is operationally gained by Air Combat Command. The WADS is one of two Sectors responsible to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Continental NORAD Region for peacetime air sovereignty, strategic air defense, and airborne counter-drug operations in the continental United States. The other sector is the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS). There was a third Sector, the Southeast Air Defense Sector, located at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida; but it was closed in 2006. ==Overview== WADS operates a Sector Operations Control Center (SOCC) at McChord AFB, as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS) which had replaced SAGE in 1983. This system enjoins state-of-the-art air defense systems and cutting-edge computer technology to significantly increase surveillance and identification capabilities, and better protect the nation's airways from intrusion and attack. It relies on digitized radar inputs from Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR) sites jointly operated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force, and tethered aerostat radar balloons. It is fully integrated with the E-3A Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system and the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (E-8 Joint STARS). The SOCC employs 27 NORAD contingency suites, and 31 Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) displays. A next-generation air sovereignty system, BCS-F fuses data from airborne, ground and naval elements and civil air traffic sensors into an integrated air picture. This allows commanders to surveil and monitor the airspace above, beyond and within U.S. and Canadian borders, providing a major component for homeland defense. It also incorporates a newly developed situational awareness system that gives WADS unprecedented tools and technology to assist state and local responders in dealing with natural disasters. It has the redundant capability to cover the EADS if the call arises. WADS is a Washington Air National Guard unit which reports directly to AFNORTH/1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, Florida. The Sector reports to Air Combat Command (ACC) and to NORAD headquarters, in Colorado Springs, Colorado in its federal role. NORAD is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Other NORAD air defense organizations include the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS), the Hawaii Region Air Operations Center (HIRAOC), the Alaska Region Air Operations Center (AKRAOC) and the Canada Air Defense Sector (CADS).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= North American Aerospace Defense Command )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western Air Defense Sector」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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